Spicy Asian Noodle Soup Bowls with Pickled Cucumbers

 

NYC really does have it all: there are over 300 restaurants that will deliver food directly to my apartment, I can enjoy a glass of Sancerre al fresco 50 stories up, and most importantly, I can get bone broth in a coffee cup from a to-go window in the East Village.

It’s a place called Brodo and they make long cooked, rich and comforting broth with fun additions like roasted garlic and turmeric.

 You think walking around with a coffee cup full of broth is weird? Just wait till you try it.

It’s like having chicken noodle soup to go, which sounds especially good as winter starts to get its hands on the city.

And it gets even better: they sell it frozen, so you can take it home and use it for soups like this Asian Noodle Soup Bowl, which is really all about the broth.

Now if you can’t stop by Brodo or make your own all-star stock, don’t panic: this soup does have some extra add-ins like ginger, soy sauce and sriracha which can really elevate a less than stellar broth.

And with the crunchy cucumbers and silky rice noodles, you are going to have died and gone to noodle soup heaven. It’s like regular heaven, but with a lot more noodles.   

Spicy Asian Noodle Bowl

Serves 4

1 English cucumber, sliced to 1/16 inch slices

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 bunches scallions, (12-16), very finely chopped, green parts separated from the light green and white

8 garlic cloves, sliced

2 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Two 32 ounce boxes of vegetable or chicken stock

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2-6 teaspoons sriracha sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)

1 lime, juice and zest

1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut into bite sized pieces

1 pound wide rice noodles

1. Combine the cucumber,  rice wine vinegar, sugar and ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl and stir to mix well then set aside.
2. Heat a medium pot of salted water over high heat for cooking the noodles. While it is heating, place a large pot over medium heat and add the oil, white and light green parts of the scallions, garlic, ginger, and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until tender – about 5 minutes.
3. Cook the noodles in the now-boiling water until tender – 4 to 5 minutes or according to the packaged instructions. When the noodles are done, drain and set them aside.
4. To the pot with the cooked scallions and garlic and the stock, soy sauce, sriracha and the lime juice and zest and bring to a simmer. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Add the shrimp to the broth and cook until pink and firm – about 2 minutes more.
5. Divide the noodles equally among 4 bowls then pour the broth and shrimp over the noodles and top each bowl with cucumbers and the remaining green scallions.

Note:

• If you don’t like it very spicy, just add less sriracha, 2 teaspoons will give you a mild heat level.
• Cucumbers can be made ahead of time or even the day before.
• Store leftover broth and noodles separately. This way your noodles won’t get waterlogged and mushy while they sit in your fridge. 

You might also like these recipes:

• Brown Butter Cucumbers + Popped Amaranth
• Brie + Honey Crostini
• Veggie Bolognese
• Chard Sandwich w/ Sundried Tomato Smear
• Cauliflower Alfredo